Louis VII: Did you mean...?

The iconic cinematic performance of Elizabeth Taylor in the motion picture Cleopatra (1963) left a lasting impression of the Egyptian queen’s supposed beauty. Despite its emphatic opulence, the movie still implies that Cleopatra could only...

The Napoleonic Concordat of 1801 defined France's relationship with the Catholic Church for over 100 years. The Organic Articles were added in 1802 and provided state recognition of the Reformed and Lutheran confessions alongside the Catholic...

Catherine de' Medici (l. 1519-1589) was the queen of France, mother of three kings and two queens and, between 1559 and c. 1576, the most powerful woman in France and, possibly, all of Europe. She was the strength behind the French throne...

The Albigensian Crusade (aka Cathars' Crusade, 1209-1229 CE), was the first crusade to specifically target heretic Christians - the Cathars of southern France. Not successful in repressing the heresy, the on-off campaigns over two decades...

At around 10 am on 21 January 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed at the age of 38. This engraving depicts the executioner, Charles-Henri Sanson's attempt to bind the king's hands. Louis had begun to resist until his confessor, the...

Death of King Louis XIV of France at the Palace of Versailles, oil on cardboard sketch by Thomas Jones Barker, France, c. 1835-1840. This oil sketch depicts the death of Louis XIV at Versailles. Barker was commissioned by King Louis Philippe...

Wedding of King Louis XIV of France and Marie-Thérèse of Spain, oil on canvas by Jacques Laumosnier, c. 1660-1700. This painting depicts the wedding of Louis XIV and Marie-Thérèse on the 9th of June, 1660. The union of France and Spain signaled...

Stained glass window of Pope Gregory VII (1015-1085) at the Pitigliano Cathedral, Italy.

Wax effigy of Pope Gregory VII (c. 1015-1085). Cathedral of Salerno, Italy.

"I come to ask, not the gods, but legislators…to erase from the code of the French the blood laws that command judicial murders" (Robespierre, 6). These impassioned words, spoken by Maximilien Robespierre before France's National Constituent...